Shiny Surfaces

this is the last exercise in this section before I start the assignment and I need to photograph something that reflects brightly, I have several thoughts on this at the moment I have a small silver jug but I am not sure that will work as I need to be able to photograph it from above, so I am going on a trip around the house to see if i have anything else that may be suitable.
I finally settled on a silver compact I had forgotten I had and below are my photographs

Photograph One is light to front with a diffuser but no cone a very unsatisfactory photograph very dull but with some reflection.

Photograph two this time I used a cone and also move the light to the side still with the diffuser on.

Photograph three this one has the cone the light to the side but also over head spot lights, this is my favourite shot although you can still see reflections in it the same as you can for all the photographs.

Photograph four this final one I angled the compact slightly and took the photograph with no diffuser but the cone still on.

The setting i used for this set of photographs was F6.3 125/s flash white balance and iso 100, I enjoy working with lights and it was interesting to see if it was possible to take the shot without getting any reflection but as much as I tried I agree that the only way is probably to put something in front of it to mask it.

Well that's the last exercise finished now so its time to get to grips with assignment so head back down, books out and time to make notes.

concentrating light

This time I have to concentrate the light on just part of the scene, so using one studio light a black reflector and some pieces of amber jewellery I set to work to see what I could create, I laid the amber on a black cloth then set the light up minus any diffuser and then set the reflector so that it sat covering first about a quarter of the light then about half of it, I used a shutter speed of 125's (this is the fastest speed I can use to trigger my lights) and an f stop of f5.6 iso 100 flash white balance and set to work photographing.

I like the second of the shots best this was with half the light covered so the band and part of the large piece of amber (this bit isn't real unfortunately)! were in shadow and the light is concentrated on the centre part showing the small pieces up better.

Contrast and Shadow Fill

Contrast and shadow fill, the brief says that you will also need white card and tin foil, well the day I came to do this exercise I had the white card (in fact I use a white box canvas) but no tin foil ,but I do I have a silver reflector, so I have decided to adjust the exercise slightly and I am hopeful that this will be ok.

below are the photographs I took I metered them all to F11 125's iso 100 and the order they are here is undiffused, diffused, white card at 3 feet white card at 1 foot silver reflector at  3 feet, silver reflector at 1 foot and finally silver reflector up close and tilted.



The first photograph with no reflector and no diffuser  has very uneven light, there is a lot of shadow on the coffee cups, not a very good image at all, the best ones were the ones taken with the reflector with the ones with the silver reflector coming out the best in terms of shadows, they had the least, although it could be argued that it would depend on the image you are trying to achieve as to whether you require any shadow at all.

Finally a note to add to the bottom of this exercise from the notes in the given folder and the portraits by Stieglitz and Weston, If the shadows were lightened the overall effect of these photographs would change dramatically, particually the one of Dorothy Norman by Alfred Stieglitz where the intensity of her look would have been lost, as it stands its a very compelling photograph where you almost feel as if the subject is looking at you.

the lighting angle

I am looking forward to this exercise again I have decided to make use of my studio lights all I need to do now is decide whether to use a face (might need to bribe someone) or whether I have a statue that could be used so I can do it in my own time rather than waiting for a model to be available. Well once again my long suffering husband has been bribed (chocolate works wonders)! so that I can borrow his face, and I set to work taking the photographs below, I metered them at F13 125's iso 100 and flash white balance.

Light to the front next to the camera, quite a nice even look no real dark shadows or bright spots, features are clear.

light to one side there is shadow to the left hand side and bright spots to the right.

back to one side there is a lot of shadow on this photograph with a bright spot to the right hand side in fact you can see the diffuser on it.

Light to the rear, creating almost a silhouette I did notice how the gold of his wedding ring was clearly visible in the darkness.

The last photograph showed the shape even though it was darker and the features were not as clear on say the light in the front photograph.

the next set are with the diffuser set at 45o camera settings as before.

Light to the front at 45o angle nice light to this one  slight shadow to the left side which was possible my fault that the light might not have been in the exact place.

light to the side with the diffuser at 45o bright spots to right hand side.

light to the rear at 45o the model stands out in this one more, the lines are more noticable (not that I would tell him this as I may need him again at some point)!, but the eyes are in shadow.

The final three photographs are taken on the same camera settings but this time the light is directly above the model.

The first one the light is behind and directly above, the middle one is slightly in front and the last one is slightly to the side but behind.
The light from behind seems to show the shape the best but not necessarily the detail which is lost ion the dark areas for example around the eyes , I prefer the light to the front.

Well at last thats another exercise completed this section seems to have taken me a long time mainly due to weather conditions but also because of life getting in the way, although I have photographed a wedding recently and have found the knowledge I have gained in this section to be very useful.